WAN IN-BRIEF:: New book: Designing Mental Health Units for People with Dementia

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New book: Designing Mental Health Units for People with Dementia

Dementia-friendly design is recognised as a powerful therapeutic intervention for people with dementia. Most of the information available relates to domestic or care home settings, but now the award-winning Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling, Scotland has produced guidance to support people with dementia who receive care in mental health units.

The DSDC’s new book, Designing mental health units for people with dementia: features to assist patients with dementia and delirium (£20), shows how to create the optimum environment.

Part of the DSDC’s Dementia Design series, it demonstrates how, for minimum cost, mental health units can be easily adapted to accommodate the complex combination of physical, sensory, cognitive and perceptual impairments experienced by many people with dementia. The guidance, written by Emeritus Professor Mary Marshall of the University of Stirling, is based on evidence, experience, and a real understanding of dementia.